When we sat down as a band and started voting for the potential names that everybody in the band had submitted we never really thought we would come up with such a long name as Parchman Farm Freedom Riders. We had a great collection of names suggested that would have been a lot easier to deal with and would have saved a ton of explaining every time somebody asked, “Hey what band are you in?" The problem was that they were all boring or at the very least typical in the blues-rock genre and we wanted the name to mean something.

The story of underdogs fighting and succeeding in making changes against the State and institutions set up only to legally uphold systems of slavery and abuse was a great piece of history and something we as a band could stand behind. It is as relevant a story now as it was back then, maybe even more so.

When we review history it is easy to point the finger at the bad guy and understand it. What is less easy is to see the same tactics and instances of slavery in modern society inflicted upon people all over the world including the United States. Whether it is forms of slavery and dominance by financial policy, military action, trade deals or planned social change, governments, organizations, and institutions use these tactics to control people in ways that we do not often think of as slavery. We have other names for it all that is nice and non-threatening, but it does not change the fact that we all suffer. It is no longer a black issue; it is an issue that affects people from all walks of life and all over the world. Today, however, even with all that we think we know, we often condone and even vote for forms of real slavery and it is often defended by the very people it hurts the most because it has become normal in our everyday lives.

Over time we decided to shorten up the name to simply Parchman Farm. Radio DJ’s were not getting the name, they were fumbling to even pronounce it, and it was not sticking as we had hoped. It was a heartbreaker because we are really into human rights and individual liberty but we also have to operate as a musical group. In the end, it was decided that the longer name was just holding us back.

We thank you for reading up on the story of our band name and hope it clarifies our thoughts and intentions. We sure appreciate all of the support and kindness we have received, and we look forward to marching on and enjoying writing and performing our music. We thank you all for following us along on our journey and we wish you all the very best!